Students

LAWS8013 – Civil and Criminal Procedure

2026 – Session 1, Online-scheduled-weekday

General Information

Download as PDF
Unit convenor and teaching staff Unit convenor and teaching staff Convenor
Andrew Burke
Contact via via iLearn
17WW Room 309
In person: any time on Thursdays by appointment. Online: any time by appointment.
Credit points Credit points
10
Prerequisites Prerequisites
(LAWS802 or LAWS8002) and (LAWS803 or LAWS8030) and (LAWS806 or LAWS8006)
Corequisites Corequisites
Co-badged status Co-badged status
Unit description Unit description

This unit examines the principles of civil and criminal procedure in New South Wales. The unit canvasses general principles of civil procedure, the nature of adversarial disputation, case management, pre-litigation issues and protocols, and pre-trial procedures of originating process, gathering of evidence for trial, class actions and the conduct and disposal of civil proceedings. Select topics in criminal procedure, such as classification of offences, police powers and bail, the conduct of criminal trials and sentencing will be covered. Themes of the unit concern procedural fairness, access to justice and the balance between efficiency and individual rights.

Important Academic Dates

Information about important academic dates including deadlines for withdrawing from units are available at https://www.mq.edu.au/study/calendar-of-dates

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:

  • ULO1: Explain, apply and critique the principles and stages of civil and criminal procedure
  • ULO2: Display legal advocacy skills
  • ULO3: Apply statutory interpretation to problems of civil and criminal procedural law
  • ULO4: Analyse civil and criminal procedural law in its historical, social and legal context
  • ULO5: Communicate professionally, effectively and in a timely manner, and participate in verbal and non-verbal exchanges with diverse audiences and in diverse contexts.
  • ULO6: Learn and work independently, meet deadlines, and reflect on performance using feedback to support personal and professional development.

General Assessment Information

All written assessments submitted electronically must be submitted through the link provided in iLearn. This unit will utilise Turnitin plagiarism detection software. Students should carefully check that they submit the correct file for an assessment, as re-submissions will not be accepted after the due date and time, including instances where students upload an incorrect file in error.

The design, moderation and feedback of all assessments is in accordance with the Macquarie University Assessment Procedure (link provided under ‘Policies and Procedures’ below).

Late Submission Policy

A maximum penalty of five (5) percentage points of the total possible marks will be applied per day to late submissions, for up to a maximum of seven calendar days. Tasks that have not been submitted within the maximum number of additional late days will receive a mark of zero. 

Penalties for late submission will be applied consistently and equitably to all students enrolled in the unit. Where short-term, serious and unavoidable circumstances have affected their ability to submit an assessment task, a student must submit a formal application for Special Consideration as per the Special Consideration Policy. Students should not request an informal arrangement from their tutor, lecturer or Unit Convenor.

Where an application for Special Consideration is approved, and the outcome is an extension to the due date of a task, submissions that are received after the new due date will be subject to late penalties that are calculated from the new due date. This only applies where the outcome is an extension to the due date – see the Special Consideration Policy for a schedule of all possible outcomes.

Special Consideration

Students should submit applications for Special Consideration electronically via the Service Connect portal. Before submitting their applications, students should refer to the Special Consideration Policy (link provided under ‘Policies and Procedures’ below).

Assessment Tasks

Name Weighting Hurdle Due Groupwork/Individual Short Extension
Exam 50% No Formal examination period Individual No
Professional Skills 20% No Weeks 1-13 in tutorials Individual No
Practice-Based Task 30% No 15/04/2026 Individual No

Exam

Assessment Type 1: Examination
Indicative Time on Task 2: 15 hours
Due: Formal examination period
Weighting: 50%
Groupwork/Individual: Individual
Short extension: No

An invigilated examination. The exam may cover any or all topics and materials covered in the unit.
On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Explain, apply and critique the principles and stages of civil and criminal procedure
  • Apply statutory interpretation to problems of civil and criminal procedural law
  • Analyse civil and criminal procedural law in its historical, social and legal context
  • Learn and work independently, meet deadlines, and reflect on performance using feedback to support personal and professional development.

Professional Skills

Assessment Type 1: Practice-based task
Indicative Time on Task 2: 0 hours
Due: Weeks 1-13 in tutorials
Weighting: 20%
Groupwork/Individual: Individual
Short extension: No

Students will develop essential legal professional skills through structured classroom activities such as oral advocacy, critical reasoning, strategic problem-solving, collaborative work, team leadership, mooting, simulated client consultations, legal presentations or demonstrations, doctrinal analysis and problem solving, and/or collaborative legal research. These activities are designed to develop students’ professional capabilities including capacity to communicate legal concepts clearly and engage professionally with diverse audiences in diverse contexts.
On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Explain, apply and critique the principles and stages of civil and criminal procedure
  • Display legal advocacy skills
  • Apply statutory interpretation to problems of civil and criminal procedural law
  • Analyse civil and criminal procedural law in its historical, social and legal context
  • Communicate professionally, effectively and in a timely manner, and participate in verbal and non-verbal exchanges with diverse audiences and in diverse contexts.
  • Learn and work independently, meet deadlines, and reflect on performance using feedback to support personal and professional development.

Practice-Based Task

Assessment Type 1: Practice-based task
Indicative Time on Task 2: 15 hours
Due: 15/04/2026
Weighting: 30%
Groupwork/Individual: Individual
Short extension: No

An assessment on professional skills and knowledge relevant to the unit. This could be a legal or policy brief, a report, an essay, a law reform proposal, legal pleadings or other related professional task. This assessment may require students to prepare a response through research and adhere to discipline-specific scholarly conventions.
On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Explain, apply and critique the principles and stages of civil and criminal procedure
  • Display legal advocacy skills
  • Apply statutory interpretation to problems of civil and criminal procedural law
  • Analyse civil and criminal procedural law in its historical, social and legal context
  • Learn and work independently, meet deadlines, and reflect on performance using feedback to support personal and professional development.

1 If you need help with your assignment, please contact:

  • the academic teaching staff in your unit for guidance in understanding or completing this type of assessment
  • the Writing Centre for academic skills support.

2 Indicative time-on-task is an estimate of the time required for completion of the assessment task and is subject to individual variation

Delivery and Resources

Delivery

Lectures: There will be 12 weeks of lectures each of 2 hours duration commencing on Week 1 and finishing on Week 12. Lectures will be delivered live 4:00pm-6:00pm on Wednesdays in 17WW G25 Lecture Theatre. JD students are welcome to attend the live lecture and can watch the recording via Echo360 on iLearn.

Tutorials: For in-person students, there will be 13 weeks of tutorials each of 1 hour duration commencing on Week 1 and finishing on Week 13. For online students there will be fortnightly two-hour tutorials commencing in either Week 2 or Week 3.

This unit is worth 10 credit points, which equates to 150 hours of work. Therefore, students should expect to commit an average of 10 hours per week to this unit, including all scheduled and unscheduled activities and preparing and executing the assessment tasks.

Resources

The required textbooks are:

Civil Procedure: Sonya Willis Civil Dispute Resolution: Balancing Themes and Theory, (Cambridge University Press, 2022)

Criminal Procedure: Roderick Howie, Paul Sattler and Marissa Hood, Hayes & Eburn Criminal Law and Procedure in New South Wales (LexisNexis Butterworths, 7th ed, 2023). Students who do not already have this text from LAWS8002 Criminal Justice can purchase either the 7th edition second-hand or the updated 8th edition; set readings will be provided from both editions.

Additional readings will be accessible through iLearn.

Students require access to a computer, internet with decent speed and a secure/reliable server. The iLearn page contains all Unit requirements and a weekly schedule for teaching, readings and tutorials. Information about all assessment tasks is also available on iLearn.

Unit Schedule

Lecture Schedule

Week 1 Introduction to Civil and Criminal Procedure (civil and criminal)

Week 2 Balancing Themes; Access to Justice, Open Justice, Pre-commencement issues (civil)

Week 3 Commencing Proceedings and Pleadings (civil)

Week 4 Gathering Evidence: Discovery, Subpoenas, Notices and Interrogatories (civil)

Week 5 Evidentiary Issues: Privilege, Lay and Expert Witnesses, Tribunal Alternatives (civil)

Week 6 Appearing in Court: Interlocutory Hearings, Notices of Motion and Trials (civil)

Week 7 Post Trial: Costs, Finality, Appeals, Enforcement (civil)

Week 8 Fairness, Rights & Liberties (criminal)

Week 9 Police Powers I - Arrest and Use of Force (criminal)

Week 10 Police Powers II – Search (criminal)

Week 11 Bail (criminal)

Week 12 Sentencing (criminal)

Policies and Procedures

Macquarie University policies and procedures are accessible from Policy Central (https://policies.mq.edu.au). Students should be aware of the following policies in particular with regard to Learning and Teaching:

Students seeking more policy resources can visit Student Policies (https://students.mq.edu.au/support/study/policies). It is your one-stop-shop for the key policies you need to know about throughout your undergraduate student journey.

To find other policies relating to Teaching and Learning, visit Policy Central (https://policies.mq.edu.au) and use the search tool.

Student Code of Conduct

Macquarie University students have a responsibility to be familiar with the Student Code of Conduct: https://students.mq.edu.au/admin/other-resources/student-conduct

Results

Results published on platform other than eStudent, (eg. iLearn, Coursera etc.) or released directly by your Unit Convenor, are not confirmed as they are subject to final approval by the University. Once approved, final results will be sent to your student email address and will be made available in eStudent. For more information visit connect.mq.edu.au or if you are a Global MBA student contact globalmba.support@mq.edu.au

Academic Integrity

At Macquarie, we believe academic integrity – honesty, respect, trust, responsibility, fairness and courage – is at the core of learning, teaching and research. We recognise that meeting the expectations required to complete your assessments can be challenging. So, we offer you a range of resources and services to help you reach your potential, including free online writing and maths support, academic skills development and wellbeing consultations.

Student Support

Macquarie University provides a range of support services for students. For details, visit http://students.mq.edu.au/support/

Academic Success

Academic Success provides resources to develop your English language proficiency, academic writing, and communication skills.

The Library provides online and face to face support to help you find and use relevant information resources. 

Student Services and Support

Macquarie University offers a range of Student Support Services including:

Student Enquiries

Got a question? Ask us via the Service Connect Portal, or contact Service Connect.

IT Help

For help with University computer systems and technology, visit http://www.mq.edu.au/about_us/offices_and_units/information_technology/help/. 

When using the University's IT, you must adhere to the Acceptable Use of IT Resources Policy. The policy applies to all who connect to the MQ network including students.

Unit information based on version 2026.03 of the Handbook